as arsene wenger continues to flirt with the thought of joining real madrid, i do wonder what will it be like if he really does. yes, i do agree that arsene wenger is a fantastic manager, and i still remember how his 1998 squad dismantled man utd (that marc overmars goal, remember?) before going onto an almost perfect run, pipping man utd to the premier league title during the second half of the 1997/98 season. that was also a bad year for most man utd fans though, with eric cantona leaving and david beckham sent off at the world cup right after that.
and then there's this season when thierry henry and co went unbeaten throughout, and even though i wasn't the least happy about it, i was impressed. i mean, yes, there were a few incidents that made me quite sore, like how robert pires could actually stick out his leg, dive and claim that it was a correct penalty decision. and how, of all players, sylvain wiltord have to score the winner to allow arsenal to lift the title right in front of man utd. but they were good, really. no, cancel last. they were fantastic.
which is why it sort of puzzles most people when you look at the arsenal of today. yet one thing that has not been taken away is their very sleek style of football, almost like the maserati i saw down the road on my way home last night. and it also helps when they have players with very good ball skills, and i am still a fan of andrei arshavin, although he looks like a grown up version of calvin from calvin and hobbes. that guy is bloody brilliant.
yet apart from arshavin, one thing that continues to shock many people is wenger's thrift towards spending on world class players. gone are the days when he broke transfer records after one another, bringing in players like bergkamp, henry and maybe even robert pires. true enough, he might have been compromised by the debts accumulated from the construction of the emirates (and i still find ashburton grove a much nicer name), but i thought he should be more aggressive towards his board of directors. look at it, arsenal is consistently qualifying for the champions league, and spending a little bit more could actually bring in even more as a result. think players like ronaldo and rooney, and imagine how much man utd has actually benefitted from the sales of their jersey replicas. well, i have a friend who bought the original jersey with the name 'veron' printed behind the back, firmly believed that veron will stay in man utd for a long time. i mean, yes, not ethically acceptable to most pple, but yea, i don't think wenger should be bad about it. after all, i cannot remember him making any lousy signings before; even anelka was spectaular.
so, it'll really be interesting if wenger does go to real madrid. at least, he'll not bug the board to sign cristiano ronaldo, and convince them that going youth is the best option. i'm not a madrid fan, and it does disgust at how their presidents can get elected by using player transfers as their main political tool. it's kind of a trend in spain, but yea, more often than not, they don't succeed. apart from florentino perez though; this guy seemed to have some sort of black magic. zidane, beckham, ronaldo and even figo forming the galacticos, wtf! and they were playing such fantastic football, like how they tore man utd apart some years back. anyway, imagine the combination, perez and wenger, and it could be like the good old days. wenger can just focus on bringing in the attacking football, while perez can just form another group of galacticos. fabregas, essien, ibrahimovic all in the same team. as an attacking football fan, yes, i salivate because football could then be an art. but as an anti-madrid fan, this could be nightmare.
now, think about el classico, or real madrid vs man utd. goodness. and then how arsenal could finally perish. hurhur. but i do wish to see liverpool crash and burn more than arsenal. because i just can't stand the irritating benitez! i'm just waiting for the next time man utd play liverpool man, and i'm looking forward to benitez's reaction when ronaldo score that 40 yard free kick against his team. sorry gerrard, you're a nice guy, but too bad for the wrong club.
smile :)
ok to strengthen themselves first, starting with how an english defender can work with a spanish one. just shut up.
still quite amazed how fergie is able to groom cristiano ronaldo to the player he is today. i still remember the days when ronaldo was struggling to find the net, barely any resemblance to what he is like today. i think he sort of perfected the modern version of taichi, like how he can pamper ronaldo while making him perform at the same time, a very big contrast to the david beckham hairdryer days. really, it's his willingness to continuously transform in the ever-changing world that impresses me the most.
